The meeting convened at 7:30p.m. in the City of San Mateo Council Chambers and was called to order by Chair Massey, who led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Transcription

1 CITY OF SAN MATEO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING MARCH 9, 2010 The meeting convened at 7:30p.m. in the City of San Mateo Council Chambers and was called to order by Chair Massey, who led the Pledge of Allegiance. Those present were Chair Massey, Commissioners Freschet, Moran, Su. The fifth seat is currently vacant and awaiting City Council appointment of a new Commissioner. A motion was made by Commissioner Moran, seconded by Commissioner Su to approve the revised minutes of the regular meeting of February 23, Vote 4 0 Passed *** PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Massey opened the public comment period. Robert Nice, Carlisle Drive, San Mateo The comments included the following: Representing Sunnybrae Homeowners in the Sunnybrae Coalition. Last commission meeting had a lot of people who wanted to speak on a topic not on the agenda. They were not allowed to speak because of the maximum time allowed for the public comment period. They represented the neighborhoods that are the most impacted by the upcoming development. It was unfortunate that the citizens most affected by this new development were not given a chance to speak. No other persons wishing to speak, the Chair closed the public comment period. ITEM 1 PUBLIC HEARING PA MONTE DIABLO CONDOMINIUMS, demolition of two residential buildings and one commercial building; and the construction of a 16 unit multi family residential building with underground parking. The project site is located at 111 and 113 Monte Diablo Avenue and 201 N. San Mateo Drive (APN ,160,330). Required Approvals: A. Categorical Exemption (CEQA Section In Fill Development) B. Site Plan and Architectural Review for the Construction of the Development C. Tentative Subdivision Map for Condominium Purposes

2 Page 2 D. Site Development Permit for Grading and Tree Removal The project site is 17,590 sq ft and is located at the northwest corner of Monte Diablo Avenue and N. San Mateo Drive. The property is zoned R 5 Multiple Family Dwellings (High Density) and E 2 Executive Office. PROJECT PLANNER: Christy Usher, Associate Planner (650) cusher@cityofsanmateo.org PROPERTY OWNERS: APPLICANT: Ron Bland 306 Sixth Avenue #B San Mateo CA (650) John Lucchesi, AIA John Matthews Architects 335 A East Fourth Ave San Mateo CA (650) john@matthewsarchitects.com Mr. Wanner gave the staff presentation, which included a power point presentation. The Planning Commission had the following questions for staff: Is this part of the Transit Oriented District (TOD) zone? Staff: This is pretty far from the TOD areas. Not in the Downtown Specific Plan area either but it is close to the train station. Ron Bland & John Luchessi, gave the applicant presentation. The Planning Commission had the following questions for the applicant: How do you think this style fits in to the existing neighborhood? Applicant: We are capturing indoor/outdoor space like the arbors in the neighborhood. Shingles and color concepts are from the neighboring buildings. Vertical spacing is like the 50 s & 60 s building around the corner just done with different materials. The pitched roof picks up traditional roof lines and a sense of home. What is the height from the street to the first floor elevation? Applicant: The property slopes west to east a little less than 2 so it is probably about 4 or 5 feet off of grade. Is that a solid wall coming down the ramp and is it at full height the whole way? Applicant: Yes.

3 Page 3 Can that wall be pulled back or can it have more openings so to give more visibility to drivers as you pull around the corner? Applicant: This would need to be reviewed by an engineer. We could save it as a question to discuss as we work on the building phase. Guest parking was of concern by the design consultant. Can you explain? Applicant: There was concern about backing out of one of these spaces. Staff: We looked at the spaces with turn templates and it would be feasible as a 3 point turn. It can be done safely. Is there a visitor bike parking rack in the front of the property? Applicant: We could put a rack right off of Monte Diablo Avenue. Staff: There is no room in the public right of way for bike racks as it is only a 5 wide sidewalk. Do you have any samples of materials? Applicant: Yes. We submitted a color & sample board. If you are resident and parking in the garage how do you get up to your unit? Applicant: Residents coming from the garage could take the elevator up to upper floor or if you are on the lower level you can take elevator up to the ground floor and walk to your front door. Some stairs will go all the way up to the top floor and some will open to only grade level. If I am a guest how do I get into the building? Applicant: There is a door where you could buzz in to take the elevator or stair. There is a required secure door. If walking down Monte Diablo is the only entrance through the elevator or does the pedestrian have access to the exit stair? Applicant: There is an exit only stair so if you were visiting you could be buzzed into the elevator or walk up to the front door of the ground floor units. If you are resident coming up from the parking garage you must come out to the sidewalk to get into the lower units. Applicant: Yes. Does the corner unit have a bigger patio than others? Applicant: No it is a little tighter. The private outdoor space goes around the bend in the rear yard area. Where does the stairway go off of Monte Diablo? Applicant: To the rear porch which has a privacy gate. Could someone just walk into the back yard? Applicant: It is possible. This was suggested as part of the design review by the City s consultant and we accommodated the request. It looks like some have balconies on the 3 rd floor and some not? Applicant: Yes. All have balconies on the top floor. Will people have to haul their trash to a specific area? Applicant: There is no trash shute. So residents will have to bring their trash to the site in the garage level. Management will bring it to the staging area which is on grade for collection. Which are the Below Market Rate (BMR) units? Applicant: One 1 bedroom and 1 two bedroom near the middle stairway. Ground floor has one and the upper floor left of the elevator has the other. Is there an area for loading? Staff: Yes, this is near the driveway to minimize the amount of restricted parking. Chair Massey opened the public comment period for this item. The following people spoke: Rochelle Goldman, Elm Street, San Mateo

4 Page 4 Alexis Ercoli, Elm Street, San Mateo Wallace Baldwin, North San Mateo Drive, San Mateo Bruce Bean, North San Mateo Drive, San Mateo Their comments included the following: I am a new resident in the building next door as of January. I had no idea there would be any construction going on right next door. I have lots of concerns. The Environmental Report should include noise, pollution, light, value on the property, how it affects parking, congestion, health hazards to us as neighbors. I see now how high the building will be. If I knew this I would not have purchased my apartment. My light will be affected. The driveway will be right opposite my window. People will be able to look into our apartment from above. The trash will be collected right next to my window and it will be smelly and noisy. If there are 33 spaces there will be a lot of traffic. If you do approve it, when will it start? How long will it take? When will the hours of construction/demolition be? What safeguards will there be against noise and pollution? How will it affect parking in the whole area? Architect says it fits into the neighborhood but I don t believe it does. I object to this whole project. I am a resident and on the Board of Directors at the Mark Diablo. Parking is a premium on our street. The parking study was done 2 years ago so I believe it should be redone. Parking is difficult already. Why has the project taken so long to get through the process? Are there financing issues? We would hate to have a project start and then stop due to financial issues. There are townhomes down the street on Elm that have not sold so it appears we are building more condominiums when there may not be any buyers right now. I own property directly across the street on the Westside. I am in favor of this project. The existing building only has about 6 parking spaces. This new project gets rid of 3 driveways which will provide for more street parking so I am all for that. The project has 35 spaces so I think the parking will be better. This neighborhood needs more residential units. There are many buildings that are not being used. A new upgraded building will be a good thing. We have had a homeless problem in this block so this could help with that. I like the design. Compared to most of the other buildings in the neighborhood this is a nice look with the gabled roof tops. The architect did a good job. The driveway gives a lot of separation between this building and the neighbor. I live across the street at Villa Del Sol. I think this will be a good asset to the whole community. It is a great design. I am in favor of it. I am tired of looking at the bungalows on the corner that don t fit so this would be an improvement. No other persons wishing to speak, the Chair closed the public comment period. The Planning Commission requested clarification on the following issues: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption. Staff: The project falls under one of the categorical exemptions under the Infill Exemption which pertains to projects built on less than 5 acres that are consistent with the City s General Plan and zoning. Neighborhood parking. Hexagon: When we do the parking study we go around at night to study the parking when it appears residents are home to capture when parking is at its peak in

5 Page 5 residential area. We count how many cars are parked and how many spaces remain. Some of the areas were completely full and some were half or less. So 66% was an average of the area. We studied about a quarter mile (8 streets) with a total of 600 parking spaces. How long ago was it done? Hexagon: It was done in May Has there been any significant construction in the area since the study? Staff: No new construction in this area. Due to economy there could even be a lower occupancy rate now. According to the study Monte Diablo shows occupancy at 58%, Tilton 61% and 48% along San Mateo Drive. What length was studied along the San Mateo Drive area? Hexagon: Not sure about actual length but it represented 62 spaces which could likely be about 3 blocks. Do you actually measure the space or is it assessed visually? Hexagon: If it is a question we will measure with an apparatus otherwise it is a visual process. It is generally 25 per car. Is there striped parking in this area? Hexagon: No Construction hours. Staff: Construction hours are 7am 7pm on weekdays and shorter on weekends with exceptions on special processes like concrete pouring. The hours are different for internal work which is quieter work. Construction worker parking. Applicant: Off street parking will be obtained after final agreements made with adjacent properties until the underground parking is completed. I approached the properties that had vacancy and was told if they are not leased we could use those spaces until the garage is done. Do you know when construction will start? Applicant: This process took longer than I thought so I am not certain when we can begin. Is your intent to establish full financing before proceeding with construction? Applicant: Yes. Then the financing will determine when you begin? Applicant: Yes. Will the units be for sale or for rent? Applicant: At this time they will be for sale. Construction work. Staff: Condition of Approval 93 says the owner must notify adjacent owners at least 3 days before construction begins. Hours of construction will be posted on site. Construction vehicles must be maintained properly to minimize impacts of construction. We are following standard procedures for construction in residential areas. Can you follow up on how people can file complaints? Staff: Public Works has put together a memo that shows a sample of the signage that would go up on the site. [The memo was distributed to the Commission.] How will neighbors learn about these documents? Staff: The City website on the What s Happening in Development page is where you can view these projects with staff contacts. Once it goes to the Building Permit phase there will be an inspector assigned. Before a permit is taken out we can go through issues with the neighbors to get their questions answered even before construction begins. Was lighting and shading taken into consideration? Staff: Due to the driveway location it does help with the shade issue by the separation created by the driveway. What is the separation between the 2 buildings? Applicant: There is ft of separation. There was not a formal shadow study requested. Based on the location of the building shadows would only be an issue in early morning.

6 Page 6 The Planning Commission made the following comments: Visitor bicycle parking rack should be added to conditions. The architect stated it would be feasible on the site. Staff: We can incorporate wording from the condition that was placed on the Magnolia project. This project is really near the train station. We have Transit Oriented Development (TOD) level zoning but then we are not doing all the TOD things here that we are doing in other TOD areas. The design of the building is not exceptionally car friendly which is helpful in discouraging car use. Putting in too much parking discourages use of public transportation. I think we should require this building participate in the upcoming Transportation Management Association (TMA). Staff: This proposed condition is similar to the conditions from Magnolia with the only difference being the percentage of pay per unit. We want to encourage people to commit to getting people out of their cars. Magnolia was within the Downtown study area whereas this is outside of the study area. The TMA condition was not included in the San Mateo Drive Condominiums project, but instead they had a condition related to transportation demand management items that could be incorporated into the project. But this TMA condition was not part of the project. So for San Mateo Drive Condominiums instead of saying they were to join the TMA we included language to address this topic? Staff: Yes. We do not have a TMA set up for Downtown yet but we do want to do this. We have Downtown Specific Plan policy to do this in the future. What does the applicant commit to with TMA? Staff: The idea is to establish some seed money to set up the TMA which would be a self governed organization of project owners and sponsors that would monitor the parking measures and Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures that apply to individual projects and otherwise achieve the goals established as part of a TMA. The TMA is powerful since residents can get access to many transportation benefits if in the program. Small businesses and residences cannot obtain these discounts to trains and buses on their own which is why joining a TMA is so beneficial to residents. Is it likely the boundaries of the Downtown Specific Plan would be extended? Staff: The Downtown Plan was only recently adopted so the boundaries are not likely to change. This isn t to say another type of boundary that would be specifically for a TMA could be established, which relates more directly to walking distance to the transit station. The plan in place envisions a Downtown Specific Plan that ends at Tilton. So there are other apartment buildings that are outside the area. If the city were to establish a larger TMA it could then pick those that are not currently part of it? Staff: It likely wouldn t be existing projects; it would be new projects. What happens if the line is moved to encompass a bigger area? Staff: The issue is we are on new ground with TMA s. We have one model which comes from the Corridor Plan. A Downtown TMA would likely be different to address things in the specific geographic area. The current model addresses only newly developed projects. This is the only time we have a hook to require participation. Staff: Yes, for this project.

7 Page 7 Do we have a TOD in the Downtown area? Staff: No. We have policy stating we want to develop one in the Downtown. Do we believe there will be one in the future? Staff: Yes. To the applicant, do you wish to join this TOD? Applicant: I wish to study this concept for the future. I love the idea but you are asking me join something that is not even developed yet. I do not have enough information to make a decision tonight. We have a functional TOD area near the Downtown. We need to get it going and make it work. I believe we need to withdraw this condition since it does not seem appropriate at this time. These comments are interesting for staff to think about as the plans for a Downtown TOD are developed. We are looking at something that is meant to be a benefit for the residences and businesses in the area. Discounted transit fares are a good thing for the community. The planning for the TOD should include an outreach for people in the area to convince residence and property owners to join. Condition 98 proposed construction specifies an annual fee but do we really want to specify a permanent fee here? Staff: There is another condition where they must enter into an agreement with the City and that is where we would set the cost. We should strike that last sentence if the annual fee is to be set by agreement. We should state the annual fee will be established in an agreement between the City and applicant. Overall I think this project is the right kind of project on this site. These small infill sites are what cities have to deal with. This is the kind of project we need to see if we want to develop the Downtown area. It is unfortunate there is an exit stair in the middle of the building. It seems convoluted for people on the first floor to access their units; from in the garage, up and out to the street. Access arrangement is odd but we have seen this style before. It will be understood by those buying the ground floor units that this is more a townhome style living and if you want apartment style living then you will purchase an upper level. Landscape is plentiful. This rendering really shows the visual aesthetics. It will add a lot to the neighborhood. Garage wall should be looked at in terms of visibility look to see if you can pull back that wall. Coming out of the garage is an open air ramp. There is consensus from the Commission to consider putting a trellis over the ramp to shield visually and buffer sound from the garage area. I like the traditional feel of this project because it makes it very clear these are homes. I like the adequate parking. I hope in the future the owner will consider moving forward with the TMA. This site is zoned for more dense development than what is being proposed with this building. Through the review and design process we all have worked together to try to minimize the impacts to others. I support this project even though we continue to lose some of these older homes. As a city we really need put TOD functions in even if we do not have an established TOD zone.

8 Page 8 This project fits well into the neighborhood. The entire street consists of apartment buildings so this appropriate for the neighborhood. I appreciate the work done by staff and architect. I think development on this corner will be a lot nicer than what is there now. Restricting parking is a way to get people to change their driving habits. Parking study seemed to be done thoroughly enough. The project will meet the code for onsite parking. I look forward with interest to see how the City will continue to develop the TOD. Incenting the public to join these efforts will be important. Motion made by Commissioner Moran to approve the project by making the following motions: A. Approve the Categorical Exemption from environmental review, per the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, Section 15332, In Fill Development, based upon the Findings for Approval in Exhibit A; and B. Approve the Site Plan and Architectural Review for the demolition of two residential buildings and one commercial building; and the construction of a 16 unit residential development with underground parking, Vesting Tentative Subdivision Map for condominium purposes, and a Site Development Permit for grading and tree removal based upon the Findings for Approval in Exhibit A and revised Conditions of Approval in Exhibit B, including the addition of the new condition for visitor bike parking and the revision to Condition 98 regarding removing the annual fee amount and referencing the agreement with the City. Seconded by Commissioner Su. Vote: 4 0 Passed ITEM 2 Election of Vice Chair Commissioner Moran is interested in serving as chair again at some point. Chair Massey explained the process of Vice Chair/Chair and the normal rotation of these positions and the duties of the Vice Chair. Commissioner Freschet requested to defer her rotation at this time. Commissioner Su is open to be the new Vice Chair and the Chair in June. Commissioner Moran nominated Commissioner Su which was seconded by Commisioner Freschet. Vote: 4 0 Passed COMMUNICATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Communications from Staff a. Position of Planning Commission representation on the Civic Arts Commission will be on the next agenda.

9 Page 9 b. City Council held interviews for the replacement of Torin Knorr. There were 2 applicants and we do not have any more information at this time. c. Planning Commission meeting for 3/23 is cancelled since there are no items ready to come to the Commission at this time. d. On 3/24 a workshop for the Hillsdale Station Area Plan will be presented with the use of grant money at the Senior Center. 2. Communications from the Commissioners a. On March 17 th Public Works will be holding a workshop on high speed rail at 5:30 at the Main Library. Commissioner Moran suggested a planning commissioner attend as she will not be able to. 3. Other a. none ADJOURNMENT There being no further items before the Planning Commission, Chair Massey adjourned at 9:50 p.m. on